SIFF 2026: Barbara Forever Written by Eric Zhu "Many cinema-goers, even serious cinephiles, have little context for avant-garde cinema. It’s easy to understand the impetus behind a documentary like "Barbara Forever," which provides a rare introduction to a towering figure in the field."

Cannes 2026: La Perra (2026) Written by Eric Zhu "Dominga Sotomayor’s "La Perra" is both perfectly judged and ravishingly beautiful. Set on a remote island in the South of Chile, the film is situated within a community of seaweed harvesters, one of whom, Silvia, has her regimented lifestyle..."

Game of Thrones Retrospective: The Night Lands (Season Two, Episode Two) Written by Anna Harrison "There comes a time in every adaptation’s life when it must decide what to chop and what to keep. Season one already cut supporting characters such as Mya Stone and Jeyne Poole and now..."

SIFF 2026: Assets & Liabilities Written by Eric Zhu "In a better world, we’d have many more independent films like Zach Weintraub’s "Assets & Liabilities." This is a film that’s formalist but not over-directed, funny and anxious, but not solipsistic."

SIFF 2026: EIGHT BRIDGES Written by Eric Zhu "The evocation of 16mm, which once seemed inextricable from Benning’s blue-collar class background, has an obvious connection to these hollowed-out landscapes. These resonances are enhanced by..."

Game of Thrones Retrospective: "The North Remembers" (Season Two, Episode One) Written by Anna Harrison "For some godforsaken reason, “The North Remembers” does not—as Martin’s book does—open with the intrigue of Dragonstone.  Instead, we are plopped right back in King’s Landing, as..."

Game of Thrones Retrospective: "Fire and Blood" (Season One, Episode Ten) Written by Anna Harrison "If “Baelor” was an exercise in patience, “Fire and Blood” is a study in grief. The episode picks up right where “Baelor” left off, with Ned Stark’s (Sean Bean) head held aloft for the people of..."

Game of Thrones Retrospective: “Baelor” (Season One, Episode Nine) Written by Anna Harrison "...from the first moment that Varys’s (Conleth Hill) torch flickers in the dungeons of the Red Keep, “Baelor” oozes beauty, even amongst—perhaps especially amongst—all the death and violence it ushers…

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (Season 1) Written by Anna Harrison "Adaptations of George R. R. Martin’s work have been, historically, uneven. “Game of Thrones” works for at least four seasons as a television series, but fundamentally fails to understand the thematic thrust of Martin’s..."

Game of Thrones Retrospective: "The Pointy End" Written by Anna Harrison "From the minute Tywin lays eyes on Tyrion, Dance’s expression is so full of contempt that it makes even Tyrion, who just talked himself out of an axe to the head, quail. To see him so cowed is a shock, considering that..."

Project Hail Mary Written by Taylor Baker "Lord and Miller, after being away for 12 years, have made an exceptionally broad and watchable film with a star (Ryan Gosling) whose affability and vulnerability find a serviceable home in..."

Written by Anna Harrison "Let’s talk about sex, baby. “Game of Thrones” is notorious for its sex scenes. They are common and they are graphic, supposedly the mark of proper “adult”… https://drinkinthemovies.com/2026/03/09/game-of-thrones-retrospective-you-win-or-you-die-season-one-episode-seven/

Game of Thrones Retrospective: "A Golden Crown" Written by Anna Harrison "Other than the distressing loss of Ned’s fever dream, “A Golden Crown” follows the books faithfully and marks another good episode from early “Thrones,” smoothly bouncing between locations, giving us our first main..."

Game of Thrones Retrospective: “The Wolf and the Lion” (Season One, Episode Five) Written by Anna Harrison "Compared to later seasons, the episode is still fairly tame, but episode five—the halfway mark for season one—signals a large (if not quite seismic) shift for “Thrones.” ..."

Game of Thrones Retrospective: "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things" Written by Anna Harrison "With “Game of Thrones” now nearly halfway through its first season, the pace has begun to pick up. It’s remarkable what has already been conveyed in three hours of television..."

Game of Thrones Retrospective: "Lord Snow" Written by Anna Harrison "“Lord Snow” lets us take our time, smell the roses, and is all the better for it. With each episode, we grow closer to the characters and the world becomes more understandable; luckily, Benioff and Weiss take their time in..."

Who is the mole? What is the time? Why did someone murder Monsignor? Where is the Child? Why am I locked in an attic, chained to an editing bay for 11 months out of the year? All of these and more are answered in this year's Video Countdown of my favorite films of 2025.

Cheaper by the Dozen (2003) Written by Livvy O'Brien "The star of the film might just be the Baker house itself, a space that feels so authentically cluttered and lived-in. The walls are a curated gallery of the children’s paintings and artwork and the windows bear the faint smudges of little..."

The Smashing Machine Written by Patrick Hao "Kerr is a hulking man, mainly torso, who spoke softly and thought deeply - the antithesis of the macho confident image that you would associate with a man of his size, or, in this case, the Hollywood star that would play him, Dwayne Johnson."

Game of Thrones Retrospective: "The Kingsroad" Written by Anna Harrison "In this single cut from the condemned direwolf to Bran’s opened eyes, we see the benefits of a filmed adaptation. Within Martin’s limited POV structure in “ASOIAF,” this moment cannot exist; while he positions these..."

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery Written by Anna Harrison "For the first time, Blanc encounters someone who challenges him; while Blanc scoffs at church and religion, Jud forces him to recognize the good it can do..."

Afternoons of Solitude (Tardes de soledad) Written by Eric Zhu "Shot in telephoto long takes with little to no acknowledgment of an outside world, Serra once again works in the present, but molds reality into something elemental and timeless. In a way, the film is..."

Game of Thrones Retrospective: "Winter Is Coming" Written by Anna Harrison "Being one of those annoying people who have complexes about reading the source material before watching the adaptation, I simply had to read Martin’s work before dipping my toe into the show. I devoured them with..."

Wicked: For Good Written by Anna Harrison "Before Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked: For Good” even begins—with Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo) fighting to free the animals of Oz and expose the Wizard’s (Jeff Goldblum) treachery—it has already run into one deadly, unavoidable problem: act two of “Wicked” is..."

Die My Love Written by Anna Harrison "I am, for better or worse, one of those people who enjoys reading source material before watching an adaptation. Often, I find that it enhances my viewing experience, and this habit has made me a better filmgoer and critic as it has forced me to think..."

Wicked Written by Anna Harrison "Who among us has not talked about “holding space” in the past year? How many Glinda or Elphaba costumes did we see at Halloween this year?..."

Good Fortune Written by Anna Harrison "Aziz Ansari’s “Good Fortune” is the latest in that long line of heavenly stories, featuring the angel Gabriel (Keanu Reeves)—no, not that one—whose illustrious job is to stop the denizens of Los Angeles from texting and driving..."

Weapons Written by Alexander Reams "All of it plays out as if it would in real life; every single parent is scared and looks for somewhere to put their fear, and Garner holds that weight as the emotional anchor of the film, and Cregger smartly ties her to the..."

Anemone Written by Anna Harrison "About twenty minutes into “Anemone,” Sean Bean tells Daniel Day-Lewis that the latter has skid marks on his underwear, and then Daniel Day-Lewis launches into a monologue about all the laxatives he took so he could s--t on a priest who molested him as a kid."

Kiss of the Spider Woman Written by Anna Harrison "Movie musicals are tricky. There can be a self-seriousness or self-aggrandizement to them that ruins the effect and yet, if the film does not take itself seriously enough and feels too self-conscious of its own musicality, no one buys the..."

NYFF 2025: Dry Leaf Written by Eric Zhu "Like many of the best films, “Dry Leaf” is endlessly thought-provoking, but gracious and easygoing on a moment-to-moment basis. Unencumbered by narrative, it’s motivated by the simple pleasures of pastoral vistas, rich humanity, and..."

VIFF 2025: With Hasan in Gaza Written by Eric Zhu "For us, unbound from the burden of direct representation, these images invite speculation of who these people are, of who they might be now, of lives before these images, and of Palestine’s future."

VIFF 2025: Christy Written by Taylor Baker "With some decent fight choreography and dedicated turns by Merritt Weaver and Ethan Embry as Christy's mother and father, this would-be redemption story amounts to little by the time we see Sweeney walk out and bump fists with..."

VIFF 2025: Two Prosecutors Written by Taylor Baker "Losznitsa, a director who primarily films documentaries, lets his cameras roll for extended sequences, allowing the spaces to come to life and the characters time to inhabit them. It is when Kornyev acts with kindness or humanity that the..."

NYFF 2025: The Currents (Las Corrientes) Written by Eric Zhu "Although various metaphorical dimensions of water are explored, chief among them the feeling of being trapped in a vortex between Lina’s escapist desire and maternal love, “The Currents” is a film about keeping up appearances in..."

The Threesome Written by Anna Harrison "’ll give “The Threesome” credit for this: I have never seen a rom-com—or any movie for that matter—set in Arkansas. This is not like “Annie Hall” or “La La Land,” where the glamorous cities on the coast become a main character..."

It Was Just an Accident Written by Eric Zhu "While on first glance, this is one of Panahi’s weaker films, there’s still evident thought put into the deployment of theatrical artifice. The film pointedly alternates between urban neorealism...and the abstracted stage of the..."

One Battle After Another Written by Taylor Baker "...a reinterpretation for a new generation, showing that while time turns things don’t change too much. As the film unfolds, its secret societies, larger-than-life characters, and cartoonish grandiosity give way to a fable steeped in realism..."

The History of Sound Written by Anna Harrison "In “The History of Sound,” silence is crucial. The moments where nothing is said far outweigh the ones filled with blathering, both in screentime and importance..."

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey Written by Anna Harrison "When I was twelve, I went to see “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” on Broadway, and then again the next year. I was at the peak of my “Harry Potter” phase, somewhat obsessed with Daniel Radcliffe..."

NYAFF 2025: Transcending Dimensions Written by Eric Zhu "Operating simultaneously as urban revenge thriller, space opera, and a Japanese version of a wuxia flick, Toyoda treats each genre vernacular as part of the same overarching prison. Attempting to liberate the film from narrative, he..."

NYAFF 2025: Queerpanorama Written by Eric Zhu "Despite the references to real-world tensions, “QueerPanorama” exists in a punishingly claustrophobic headspace. This is most obvious in the barren abstraction of Cheung’s apartment, where Cheung’s arrested development is on..."

Twinless Written by Anna Harrison "Grief is a strange thing. It can have you crying one minute and laughing the next, all in between shouting matches over who gets to inherit Grandma’s underwear. For Roman (Dylan O’Brien), it’s doubly strange, considering he looks exactly like the deceased..."

28 Years Later Written by Taylor Baker ""28 Years Later" delves into something more profound; it operates more in the realm of John Huston and Billy Wilder, where world-building emerges organically from character development, enhanced by the director's signature techniques."

Wick is Pain Written by Taylor Baker ""Wick is Pain," settles all that noise into a straightforward documentary about the labor of love and behind-the-scenes feuds that turned a little indie action film into another conglomerate film universe with its numerous spin-offs."

Eddington Written by Taylor Baker "Ari Aster's “Eddington” arrives as a fever dream of American paranoia, where Amazon delivery trucks become harbingers of doom and COVID masks transform into tribal markings. Set within a heightened, hyperreal version of..."

Ophelia Written by Livvy O'Brien "The Pre-Raphaelites have always moved me deeply, especially their way of blending raw emotion with detail. Sir John Everett Millais’ “Ophelia” painting embodies this perfectly. The painting is a symphony of symbolism: the poppies tangled in her dress, the..."

The Alto Knights "Every moment of the fourth-wall interview is just a reminder of the laziness of “The Alto Knights,” when it so desperately wants to be in the same conversation as Scorsese, Coppola, Spielberg, Eastwood, and Miller’s late-career achievements, making it..."

Bigger Than Life Written by Michael Clawson "Melodrama gives way to domestic horror in Nicholas Ray’s phenomenal “Bigger Than Life,” a movie of feverish, boldly menacing visual style. Like Sam Fuller’s “The Naked Kiss,” the film points ahead to David Lynch’s surrealist suburban nightmares..."

The Accountant 2 Written by Alexander Reams "The film's most significant shortcoming lies in its ultra-glossy digital cinematography from the usually reliable Seamus McGarvey. The switch from celluloid to digital results in a loss of the grime and texture that made the first film so memorably..."